Strangers When We Meet
by Ella1995
Summary: When the Goblin King disappears, the Labyrinth calls upon its Champion to help find him and restore him to his throne. However, nothing is ever as it seems in the Underground and Sarah soon finds herself in over her head upon her return to the Labyrinth. But then, the course of true love never did run smooth. Slow burn J/S.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Sadly I don't own Labyrinth or any of the characters etc associated with it, no matter how much I may wish I did.**

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 **Chapter 1**

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Jareth was sat draped across his horned throne, one leg hung carelessly over one of its arms, the other pulled to his chest. Riding crop tapping furiously against his boots, the leather on leather made a satisfying sound. Despite the usual scene of chaos that reigned over the throne room, a result of the chickens and goblins that often occupied the space and ran amok, he was lost deep in his own thoughts.

It had been five years since Sarah had defeated his Labyrinth, won back her brother and returned to her own world after rejecting him. A rejection which still left him bitter and angry at the thought of it. After all, who did she think she was to reject him, King of the Goblins? And still the fact remained that she had, and he was still very much in love with her despite it, as stubborn and infuriating as she was and as much as he tried to deny it. No matter how hard he tried to forget about her, he could not, and sooner or later he would find himself summoning a crystal and calling upon it to show her to him.

"You have no power over me!" Her words rang through his head, causing him to grimace at the memory. While that may be true, she certainly held power over him, even after all this time.

Those five long years since her departure from his world had been filled with torment for Jareth, who could think of little else but her. It was a lonely existence, ruling over the goblins and other creatures that resided within the Labyrinth. Whilst he had no shortage of subjects, many of whom were often present within the castle walls, they were somewhat simple creatures. Sarah had inspired within him a hope that he may at last be able to share a meaningful existence with another being, who would provide him with companionship and with whom he could share his thoughts and desires, hopes and dreams.

Jareth found the fae nobility of the capital intolerable, and as such dealt with them as little as possible. His family had held the responsibility of being the guardians of the Labyrinth for many centuries, and as soon as he'd come of age, he'd eagerly taken on that responsibility to escape them. Upon the death of his parents, apart from to attend to royal duties, he found no reason to return there any longer. The Labyrinth was secluded from the rest of the Underground, surrounded by desert and rarely visited by other fae, many of whom held its inhabitants in contempt. Being considered particularly handsome even among the fabled beauty of the fae people, he had little difficulty finding female companionship, though sooner or later it came to an end when he grew bored of their company, none of them ever managing to capture his heart no matter how many attempted to. A feat which had not been achieved, that is, until Sarah's entry into his life and conquering of both his labyrinth and affections with her determination and defiance of him. The fact that a human girl was the only being to conquer the Labyrinth was a testament to her strength of character and right to the position of Goblin Queen in itself.

He was painfully aware of how she still called upon the friends she had made during her run through his kingdom from time to time, causing a sharp bolt of jealousy to shoot through him. More than once he had wished to himself that she might call upon him, that she had reconsidered his offer and would beg his forgiveness. That she would rather consort with those traitors, particularly that wretched dwarf, frustrated him no end. Soon after Sarah's departure the goblins discovered not to mention her in their King's presence for fear of sending him into rage and provoking an impromptu bogging.

With a wistful sigh, Jareth was slowly drawn once more from his inner musings by the din echoing around his throne room, in particular the noises a rather tuneless group of goblins were making in their attempts at song. Before he could make any move to silence the annoyance however, a chicken soared over his head to land promptly in his lap with a loud squawk, the clattering of the goblin who had been attempting to catch it falling to the ground ringing out behind him. With a low growl, the Goblin King angrily shooed the chicken from its perch upon his raised leg, rising to stand on the raised dais in the center of the room and address those within it.

Eyes narrowing at the inebriated goblin mass before him, Jareth raised his voice to be heard above the racket. "Silence!" he demanded, raising his crop to point to the throne room's main exit, leading out towards the goblin city.

"Get out, all of you." Silence fell upon the room as dozens of pairs of beady eyes turned to face him, even the chickens having the sense to remain quiet. However, none of the small creatures made any move to leave, to Jareth's great annoyance. His jaw twitched with restraint at the lack of movement before him, they wouldn't usually dare to defy his commands. None but _her_ at least. Finally, one particularly hairy, beady eyed goblin stepped forward from the rest, clearing his throat before addressing his monarch.

"But Majesty, we've nowhere else to go. The goblin city remains in ruins since the Champion and her companions defeated our army." He squeaked out, voice laced with fear.

Without a hint of hesitation, the Goblin King bared his pointed teeth and released a feral growl, marching towards the lone goblin and promptly sending him flying through an open window straight towards the Bog of Eternal Stench with one swift kick. Sharply spinning on his heel, he faced the remaining crowd.

"If I hear another word about _her_ from any of you, the punishment will be far worse than a mere bogging, understood? Now, leave me!" he bit out, voice dangerously low. There was only a beat between Jareth finishing speaking and the clamour of goblins rushing out into their crumbling city, throne room emptying in the blink of an eye.

Releasing a heavy sigh, he retreated once more to his throne, falling heavily upon it. Crop clattering to the floor at his feet, Jareth dropped his head into his hands, long fingers running through unruly, blonde locks, tugging at them in frustration. He knew the goblins often whispered about their Champion when they thought he couldn't hear, wondering when she might return and whether that would set their King's temper right once more. Well, as right as it ever was at least. He'd always been known for having something of a quick temper, and a bogging was nothing new. They were, however, far more frequent since their King's defeat and the Champions departure from their world. It seemed wherever he went in his Kingdom there was mention of Sarah, whether it be in the bedtime stories younglings were told or a drunken ballad.

"Oh Sarah," he muttered to himself, rising to gaze out over his Kingdom from the view offered by the very window used to eject a goblin only a few moments prior. "Everything was far simpler before you came along, bursting into my life without a thought for the effect you would have on this world upon defeating my Labyrinth. In fact, if this is how my life's to be, I wish I didn't know you." With a sigh of resignation, Jareth made his way out the narrow passageway towards the back of his throne room, absently navigating his way to his chambers through long, winding corridors.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Jareth, three decrepit looking figures gathered around a bright, golden thread. They were Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos, and together they made up The Fates. A figure with particularly severe looking features cackled to herself and began spinning a new weave into the thread with deceptively nimble fingers.

"So be it, Jareth of the Labyrinth, if that is truly what you wish." In that moment, a crash of thunder rang out over the Labyrinth, and with it the Goblin King fell into darkness.

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 **A/N**

 **Hello lovely readers, and welcome to my very first attempt at writing a fanfic! Please be gentle, though reviews would be greatly appreciated.**

 **This first chapter isn't very long but I'm hoping to start making them longer from here on out. Just to forewarn you all, I have no idea how often I'll be able to update this story, particularly given I'm a busy Uni student (With lots of looming deadlines that I should really be working on instead of this, oops). That said, I would like to try to update this story on at least a semi regular basis, so if at any point it's been a while since I've last updated this, feel free to send me a prod to motivate me to get working on it again, particularly as I have the attention span of a gnat. However I'd like to reassure you that no matter how long it takes me this story WILL be completed.**

 **Also the rating for this story is currently T, but it may go up in later chapters of the story. I'll give you a warning at a later date if that happens though.**

 **Lastly, thank you very much for reading this and I hope you enjoy it! And if there's anyone out there willing to beta this for me, that would be a great help as I don't currently have one and I feel it could be extremely useful.**

 **-Ella.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Sadly I don't own Labyrinth or any of the characters etc associated with it, no matter how much I may wish I did.**

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 **Chapter 2**

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Sarah let out a sigh of resignation as she stepped from the room that had held yet another failed audition for her. It seemed she was never going to find a decent acting job and as such she had been forced to take an evening job as a bartender to help pay the bills. She had chosen not to attend college and had instead moved to New York City as soon as she'd come of age to pursue her passions and a career in acting. Even had she chosen to go to college, Sarah had no idea what she'd have studied. Nothing else had ever held her interest like acting, and after her adventure through the Labyrinth five years earlier, she couldn't imagine doing anything that didn't excite and challenge her. Without returning Underground to relive her exhilarating adventure, which she knew was impossible, acting came closest to doing that for her. She could certainly never settle for an office job like her father wanted her to do. A job that 'was safe and provided security', he'd told her. Karen and he had never supported her choice of career.

She had seemed to mature overnight in their eyes after her trip through the Underground to rescue Toby, and over the years that had followed Sarah had softened to Karen's presence in their lives and come to love Toby as a brother, not an intruder who was trying to steal her parents from her. In fact, she'd grown extremely attached to her baby brother, ever the loving older sister. She remembered how upset Toby had been when she'd told him she was moving, only to brighten once more with a blinding smile upon telling him it was only an hour or so drive from New York City back to Upper Nyack, and she would visit him as often as she could. However, whilst the Labyrinth had helped bring them all closer together and Sarah to finally bond with her family, her choice of career had only served to drive a new wedge into her relationship with them.

Pushing open the heavy door that would lead her back out onto the overcrowded streets of New York, she pulled her umbrella from her bag to protect her from the torrential rain pouring down upon the city and all who dwelled within it. Opening it above her head, she ducked into the passing crowds, weaving her way through the throngs in the direction of home. A strong gust of wind hit Sarah, umbrella instantly turning inside out as a result. Hurriedly pulling it to her, she set to work righting it once more to return it above her head for cover, only to find the metal wiring that held it open mangled and broken. With a groan of exasperation, she shoved it back into her bag and hastened her pace.

It seemed nothing could go right for Sarah recently. Over the past couple of months, she'd almost started to believe her apartment was haunted. Items such as keys, jewellery, even her clothes had been disappearing with seemingly no trace, only to reappear suddenly days later. In fact, only the other day, she'd finally found her favourite jumper tucked away into the microwave. It was utterly perplexing. Even food was regularly vanishing from her cupboards. Sarah was almost tempted to start looking for a new place to live.

When she eventually made it into her building and to her front door, Sarah tugged her bag in front of her, rifling through its contents in search of her keys.

"God dammit, where are the bloody things? I know I put them in here," she huffed, her drenched hair and clothing steadily creating a pool of water where she stood.

"Aha." Roughly tugging them from the tangled mess of her headphones, she jammed the key into the lock and turned it until it gave an audible click, shouldering the door open and traipsing inside. Nudging the door closed behind her with her hip, Sarah dropped her keys noisily into the bowl beside the door before bending to collect her mail.

Rifling through the unopened envelopes, her face scrunched in distaste. "Bills, bills and more bills," she mumbled, throwing them all, along with her bag, down onto her bed as she wandered into her bedroom. The one that incited the most worry from her came from her landlord, demanding the two months of rent he was due, along with the current months within the next two weeks, else she would be evicted.

Sarah crossed the room to her bathroom, plugging the bath and turning the water faucet to run hot water into the tub. Pouring some bath gel into the steadily filling tub, she swirled the water around with her fingertips until bubbles covered the top of the water. Once the tub was full and steaming, Sarah turned off the water and proceeded to peel off her sodden clothes, dropping them into a pile on the tiled bathroom floor.

"Mmm, this is exactly what I need after that morning." Sarah groaned with satisfaction as she sank deep into the tub, fingers and toes burning pleasantly as the cold skin was met with hot water.

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When all the heat had finally left the water, Sarah rose from the tub and grabbed her towel from its hook on the bathroom door, wrapping it tightly around herself. Once she had dressed in a pair of dark jeans and her favourite black jumper, she bent to retrieve the pile of clothing that was now surrounded by a puddle of water, carrying it through into the kitchen and dumping it straight in the washing machine. Pouring some powder into the drawer of the machine, she turned it on. She began quietly humming a familiar tune to herself as she moved around the kitchen, intent on preparing herself some dinner before her shift at the bar she worked at downtown.

"There's such a fooled heart

Beatin' so fast

In search of new dreams.

A love that will last..."

She sung softly to herself, smiling wryly at the lyrics, as she opened the fridge to remove the leftover noodles she'd saved from the previous night's Chinese takeaway. To her dismay, they were nowhere in sight. Shrieking in frustration, Sarah slammed the fridge door closed once more.

"What the hell is going on in this place? I swear to God, if someone's messing with me, when I find out who you are you're going to be _so_ sorry! Do you hear me?" She called out into her empty apartment, suspiciously looking around the room for any sign of movement. Yet there was none.

"I'm losing my mind..." she complained under her breath, forgoing dinner to instead move into the next room and collapse down onto a sofa that had seen better days. Staring up at the ceiling for a long moment, Sarah was half tempted to go to her dresser mirror and contact her friends from the Underground through it after the awful day she'd had. She was grateful for their unbending friendship and loyalty, especially as she was somewhat lacking many real friends in her own world and often experienced a sense of loneliness. Her thoughts then drifted to a particular Goblin King, as they had multiple times over the last few years. She'd even been tempted to call upon him once or twice. She sometimes wondered what life would be like if she had accepted Jareth's offer to remain Underground. Things weren't exactly going to plan in her life currently, and at least there she would be surrounded by her friends.

Jareth had seemed so simple to her when she was 15, the villain to her hero. However, since then she'd had time to reflect upon his actions and words towards her throughout her run and she had become certain there was more to him. His last request of her before she had retracted any power he might have held over her and returned her and her brother home had haunted her thoughts at times. Could he possibly have meant them? All the other men she'd met had paled in comparison to the intrigue and mystery that surrounded the Goblin King, and there were none who could equal his beauty. The other-worldly air surrounding him only served to intrigue her further.

A loud crash from the direction of the kitchen snapped Sarah from her thoughts as she bolted up from the sofa. "Hello? Is someone there?" She called out in a startled tone into the apartment, which was quickly darkening along with the setting of the sun for the day. Cursing inwardly at the quiver in her voice, she steeled her resolve and crept towards the kitchen door. Peeking into the unlit room, she could have sworn she saw shadows shifting in the corner of her vision.

"I know you're there, I can hear you!" She called out once more into the darkness, her words met with faint giggles from a particularly shadowed corner. Dashing towards the counter-top, she snatched up a frying pan and raised it above her head in defence. Eyes never leaving the spot she thought she saw movement, Sarah warily sidled towards the light switch and hurriedly flicked it on.

"What the-?" She furrowed her brow in confusion, slowly lowering the frying pan when faced with an empty room. "Now I know I'm losing my mind... Get a grip, Sarah." She hissed to herself. A pot laying on the floor told Sarah it had simply been sitting been sitting too far over the edge of a shelf and fallen off. Returning it to it's rightful place, she justified the sound of giggling as having come from next door and the shadows to her imagination, though just to be sure proceeded to check the rest of the apartment for an intruder.

Finding nothing, she was about to return to her spot on the sofa when her phone rang, the sudden loud noise eliciting a startled squeak from Sarah. Wrestling it from her jean pocket, she jabbed her finger at the answer button. "Lucy, hey, what's up?"

"Hey Sar, I'm just on my way to grab a coffee before work. You want to join?" Came Lucy's friendly voice from down the phone. Sarah had met Lucy at the bar they both worked in the evenings, and they'd become fast friends.

After the events that had just taken place in her apartment, Sarah was more than grateful for the invitation to leave it. "You have no idea how good coffee sounds right now. Usual place?"

"You got it, I'll see you soon." Swearing she could hear the faint sound of more giggling now coming from her front room, Sarah dashed into her bedroom and grabbed up the bag that still lay upon her bed. Pulling on a pair of black converse sneakers and yanking her coat off the hook on her bedroom door, she exited into the hallway.

"Alright, great. I'll be there in 20." Hanging up on her friend and jamming her phone back into her pocket, Sarah made a beeline for the front door, snatching up her keys from their bowl on her way past and slamming the door closed behind her. More cackling followed her hasty retreat, which she could hear grow louder through the closed door. Locking it as fast as she could, Sarah speedily set out towards the coffee house where she was to meet with Lucy, happy to get as far from her apartment as possible.

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"Lucy, hey, over here!" Sarah called out over the noise in the coffee house when she saw her friend wander through the door, waving to catch her attention from the table across the room she'd managed to grab for the two of them.

Pushing her way through the many people crowding in the coffee house to seek refuge from the rain outside, Lucy navigated her way over to Sarah and shook off her wet coat, hanging it over the back of her chair. "Hey Sar. Everything alright? You sounded a little odd on the phone."

Sarah shrugged, plastering a smile onto her face. "Yeah, just had a bad day is all. Nothing to worry about." She knew Lucy would only laugh if she tried to explain to her the events that had taken place in her apartment earlier and tell her it was all in her head, that she was just being silly. Sarah wasn't even sure it hadn't all been in her head.

"Aw crap, audition didn't go so well then?" Lucy offered Sarah an apologetic smile at the answering shake of her head, pulling out her purse from her dripping bag. "Coffee's on me, back in a jiffy."

Lucy once more braved the journey through the crowds to order their drinks, leaving Sarah to drift back into her thoughts of earlier that evening. A sudden thought hit her, causing her to release a breathy gasp. Was it possible that these odd occurrences could be a result of the Goblin King interfering with her life? She had occasionally wondered whether he might try to seek revenge upon her for beating him at his own games, but had always shrugged the thought off. Now she wondered if there may have been any cause for concern in the matter after all.

The dull thud of the drinks Lucy had purchased hitting the table jumped Sarah from her thoughts, her agitation not escaping Lucy's notice. "Are you sure you're alright Sarah?"

"I'm fine Luce, promise. Don't worry. I just keeping thinking about how awful the audition was this morning is all. You should have seen it, everything that could have gone wrong did. And I completely fluffed the lines." It wasn't a lie, the audition that morning really had gone awfully. But it was only for a small TV ad and she wasn't too torn up about not getting the role. She had thought when she was younger that being an actress would be a life filled with glamour as her mother had always made out in a rare birthday or Christmas letter to her. She had soon found out that the reality was far from glamorous. What Sarah truly aspired for was a role in a leading Broadway show, but she was beginning to think she would never get there. More than once she'd given thought to the idea she may not be cut out to be an actress like her mother, but then Sarah was back to the problem that she didn't have an idea of what else she would want to do with her life.

"I have an idea to help take your mind off it. Let's go out clubbing Friday night, maybe meet some cute guys. It's been ages since you went out with anyone Sarah." Lucy often complained to Sarah about her lack of interest in male companionship. She'd been out with a few men since moving to New York. She'd even dated a couple of them for a while, but it never seemed to last long or lead anywhere. Sarah noted she never felt any real attachment to the relationships, and once they'd ended she found it easy to move on with her life as if it had never happened. Sooner or later, Sarah would eventually find herself comparing them to a particular Goblin King, and they all paled in comparison to him and only disappointed. On top of that, Sarah wasn't a big fan of clubbing, she just couldn't see the appeal in it. Sweaty bodies and drunken minds, crashing together in an overcrowded room where you could hardly see or hear a thing other than the blinding lights and loud music that only served to disorient all present.

Sarah sighed loudly, not at all trying to hide her displeasure at the idea. "I don't know Luce, you know how I hate clubbing..."

Lucy didn't give her chance to finish, jumping in to plead her case, eyes begging Sarah to agree. "Oh come on Sarah, please. It'll be good for you! Take your mind off things. And besides, we haven't gone out together for ages. Please, please, please say you'll come."

Rolling her eyes, Sarah considered the idea for a moment. It couldn't hurt, she supposed. And it _would_ help take her mind off things for an evening. With a considerable amount of reluctance that had the little voice in the back of her mind screaming at her that she truly had lost it, Sarah gave a quick nod of her head in agreement before she had chance to amend her decision. "Alright, alright. We'll go out Friday night. But no trying to set me up like last time! Ok?"

"Ugh, you're no fun at all! But fine, I promise." Lucy couldn't hide her excitement, practically bouncing around on the spot.

Glancing down at her watch, Sarah lifted up her coffee cup and took a long drink from it. "Come on, we should get going. Our shift starts in 15 minutes."

Nodding in acknowledgement, they both tugged their still damp coats on once again and headed back out onto the wet streets, drinks in hand.

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Sarah arrived home just after two in the morning, hesitating outside her front door, key in hand. Straining her ears for any trace of noise coming from inside her apartment and satisfying herself there was none, she unlocked the door and quietly slipped inside, locking it again behind her. She'd bought a snack on the way home as throughout her shift her stomach refused to cease growling angrily at her, a result of her forgoing dinner before she left the house.

Dropping her bag onto the floor beside the sofa, she wearily dropped down onto it and unwrapped the sandwich she'd purchased. Attacking it hungrily, it didn't take her long to finish it off. Satisfied it would last her until morning, Sarah sunk back into the sofa and tugged out her phone, firing off a text to Lucy that she'd got home ok. It was something of a ritual the two had to look out for each other. A woman walking through the dark streets of New York, alone, could make an easy target for the more unsavoury characters that prowled the streets so late at night, and so to be safe the two made sure the other knew that they'd got home safe. Allowing her eyes to close for a short moment whilst she awaited Lucy's reply, Sarah soon drifted off into a light sleep.

Her phone jarred her from her slumber a short while later, signalling Lucy's text that she'd safely arrived home. Yawning loudly, Sarah rose from the sofa and stretched before sluggishly padding over to her bedroom. A room, she noticed upon approaching the door, which was lit from within. Sarah shrugged it off, figuring she simply must have left a light on in her rush to leave earlier that evening. Therefore, the sight that greeted her within when she pushed the door open was the last thing she ever expected to see. Perched upon her bed were three small, hairy goblins, and with her entry three pairs of large, bulbous yellow eyes turned to bore into her.

Neither the goblins before her or Sarah made any hint of movement, Sarah too shocked to say or do anything. After a long pause, the goblins began to whisper among themselves, sending glances in her direction every few seconds. After a moment of this passed, along with the shock of the sight before her, Sarah found her voice once more.

"What in the bloody hell is going on here?" Taking another couple of steps into the room, the look of shock upon her face quickly turned to suspicion and she took a quick glance around the rest of the room. "And where's the Goblin King? Is he here?"

Shaking their heads all at once, the smallest of the three goblins stepped forward and cleared his throat to address Sarah in a small, squeaky voice. "The King's gone, Miss Sarah."

Furrowing her brow, Sarah closed the last of the distance between herself and her bed, coming to stand at the end of it. Looking down at the goblins, she pondered their words. "What do you mean by gone, gone where?" Her mind raced frantically, considering all the possibilities. Could Jareth be dead? Was he on some kind of journey elsewhere, outside the Labyrinth? Was this all simply one of his tricks in an attempt to get her to return?

The goblins shrugged in unison in answer to her question, watching her with large, unblinking eyes. "We don't know where he is, he disappeared. That's why we're here, we need your help to find him." Sarah found the situation vaguely amusing. Having considered what it might be like to return to the Labyrinth before, Sarah now found herself in a position that would allow her to do just that. And yet she couldn't just up and leave, she had a life here. There were her friends and family to consider for a start. She couldn't just disappear. Besides, the Underground wasn't her world. They would just have to deal with whatever problems they were having there without her. And Sarah found it hard to believe Jareth would just leave them, he was their King.

Her mind made up, she shook her head, resolutely crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm sorry, but I can't help. I belong here, not in the Labyrinth. Champion or not, I can't just go back there."

The goblins frowned with obvious displeasure at her answer. Just as Sarah was about to open her mouth to politely request they leave, one of the goblins grabbed her wrist with a furry little hand, and Sarah felt her world slipping away around her.

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 **A/N**

 **Well, here's chapter 2 for you all already! Luckily I'm on holiday from Uni for Easter at the moment, so I still have a couple of weeks in which I will hopefully be able to fire off the first few chapters of this story without distraction.**

 **I have a plan and outline for how this story is going to play out now too, so hopefully that will help to move the writing process along a little faster as I go.**

 **Just as a warning, I don't plan on Sarah and Jareth coming together again for a little while in this story. We will be visiting both characters on their journeys back to each other, and there will hopefully be plenty of action taking place within the Labyrinth to tide you all over in the meantime.**

 **Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the chapter; I will try to get the next up within the next week.**

 **-Ella.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Sadly I don't own Labyrinth or any of the characters etc associated with it, no matter how much I may wish I did.**

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 **Chapter 3**

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Once the world steadied itself around her once more, Sarah didn't need to look at her surroundings to know it wasn't her home she was currently stood in, but rather the castle beyond the goblin city. The small group had materialised directly in the middle of the lowered pit at the centre of the throne room, and Sarah found herself suddenly surrounded by goblins of varying shapes and sizes. She slowly pivoted on the spot to face the three responsible for her current presence in the Labyrinth, fingers twitching at her sides as her eyes narrowed.

"Take me back home, right now!" she ground out through clenched teeth. She noted Jareth was nowhere to be seen, though she was sure he was nearby, watching her current predicament with amusement through one of the ridiculous crystals he liked so much to flash around. The throne room also seemed to look a lot more unkempt compared to her last visit, chicken feathers littering the floor. She was somewhat surprised that Jareth would let his home become so unruly, particularly as he had always seemed to ensure his appearance was impeccable whenever she'd encountered him throughout her run.

"You can't go back, Miss Sarah. The Labyrinth bought you here, we need your help. It won't let you return." A small voice piped up from her left, catching her attention.

"What do you mean, "can't go back"?" Snapped Sarah in quick reply, her toleration for the situation rapidly beginning to wear thin.

"'E means that, as the rightful ruler in that rat Jareth's absence, y'can't jus' leave now," came a familiar deep, gravelly voice from the back of the crowd.

The goblins parted as three figures pushed their way through to the front of the gathered throng, Sarah's eyes widening at the sight of her friends approaching. Anger momentarily forgotten, a wide grin spread across her face and she rushed forwards to greet each of them, a large pair of hairy arms encircling her as soon as she was within reach of them.

"SAWAH!" A loud voice boomed from the great beast, reverberating around the room.

"Ludo, it's so good to see you!" Her voice was muffled against his fur as she embraced him in return, his arms locked tightly around her. When he released her a long moment later, she turned to face the next of the three; a little fox-terrier like creature with long whiskers, spindly little legs that was sporting an eyepatch. He swept down into a low bow once Sarah's attention was upon him, at which Sarah struggled to stifle a quiet giggle, curtsying as best she could in her jeans and sweater.

"My lady, what pleasure it brings me to gaze upon thee again." Whiskers twitching from side to side, when he rose from his bow Sarah was greeted by a toothy grin from the creature, her own growing at her delight to once again be in the company of her friends. Ambrosius was sat dutifully at his side, ever the faithful steed. The affectionate ruffle she bestowed upon the Sheepdog's head earned her a happy bark and wet lick upon the hand, which she furtively wiped dry against her jeans.

Whilst Sarah had missed each of them, it was the last of the three she was particularly happy to see once again. Hoggle was stood to the side, watching her interactions with the two whilst nervously fiddling with the plastic bracelet fixed around his wrist. He wore it always, a fond memory of the friend who had gifted it to him years before. A friend who was now stood before him once again, no longer a young girl but instead a grown woman. Yet despite the years that had passed he could tell she was still the same Sarah, whose imagination and fascination had been so captivated by the wonders the Labyrinth held.

A feeling of guilt began to creep over Sarah when her gaze fell upon Hoggle. It had been months since she'd last called upon her friends through her mirror, and she worried now that she had neglected them somewhat in recent years. Since her big move to begin a life in New York, Sarah had been kept rather busy with auditions and work, and contact with her Labyrinthine friends had grown less frequent.

"Oh Hoggle, I've missed you so much... I'm so sorry I haven't called on you all recently. My life has just been such a mess and I've been so busy and- Well, please forgive my neglecting you all. I've missed you all terribly, and I'm so happy to see you again." Glancing to her feet with remorse, she was glad when Hoggle piped up in response.

"S'good ta see ya 'gain too Sarah." The Dwarf shuffled from foot to foot, the current situation they all found themselves in making him feel particularly anxious, even if it had been temporarily forgotten by Sarah. "I s'ppose yer wonderin' what it is yer doing 'ere."

Sarah balled her hands, nodding her head in response as her anger at the situation began to bubble up within her once again. Releasing a heavy sigh to calm herself, Sarah addressed all three of her friends when she spoke. "I need to speak with Jareth, explain to him the concept of human rights and that he can't just go kidnapping people like this, the glittery bastard. Where is he?"

"But you see my lady, therein lies the problem. His majesty hast disappeared, and no one know'st to where." Sir Didymus' shrill voice explained.

"S'true Sarah, the rat bastard jus' up an' disappeared one day. We've spent the last few weeks now searchin' the whole Underground for 'im, all o' us..."

"But alas, t'was to no avail. His Majesty is nowhere to be found within our world." Sir Didymus interjected, much to Hoggle's annoyance.

"Well then if he's not here, where is he and why did he leave?" Her ire was rising once again at the trouble Jareth and his tricks was causing her.

The goblins were quickly becoming restless at having kept quiet so long and had begun to shuffle around. One clumsily disturbed a chicken which flew into the air with a loud squawk, the metal of the goblins armour grating together noisily as they moved within the quiet room.

"We don't know where 'e's gone, but he ain't Underground, tha's for sure. That only leaves the Aboveground as to where 'e could be. But why, or how, 'e left," Hoggle shrugged, mouth pressed into a hard line, "That we can't figure out. Jareth can't visit the Aboveground without bein' summoned, but if that were the reason for 'is absence, 'e would o' returned shortly after disappearing and the goblins would 'ave been aware o' the summons to accompany 'im above. Means somethin' must o' 'appened to the rat. An' not that 'e don't deserve whatever 'e gets, the Labyrinth needs a ruler to answer the summons from above and guard the gate between worlds."

Sarah struggled to digest what the dwarf was saying, faintly aware of a sense of worry beginning to stir within her. "So this isn't just one of Jareth's tricks, he's truly gone?"

The trio before her nodded in unison, a grim expression upon each of their faces.

Sarah threw her hands up in the air in exasperation, releasing a harsh exhale of breath. "Well even if that's the case, what the hell am I supposed to do about it?" Hoggle's nervous fidgets intensified at her question, not failing to escape Sarah's notice. "Hoggle, what aren't you telling me?"

"Well, y'see Sarah. Aw heck, the Labyrinth needs a ruler an' Jareth can't be found..." He trailed off in a quiet voice, unable to find the words to complete his sentence.

"Which means the Labyrinth needeth a ruler, My Lady. And by right of conquest, until his Majesty can be found, that means thee must taketh up the mantle of Goblin Queen." The small knight once again proudly cut in, though this time Hoggle found himself relieved at the action.

Sarah found herself lost for words at this last piece of information, staring at the three creatures stood before her, dumbfounded. When she eventually found her voice once more, her words were filled with a growing sense of panic. "Me, Goblin Queen? That's the most absurd thing I've ever heard, I can't possibly be Queen!"

"I'm afraid, My Lady, thee has't no choice. The Labyrinth hast chosen thee itself." Sir Didymus countered.

"Look, as flattered as I am that you want me to be Queen, I need to return home. Please, take me back, right now." Her large, emerald eyes searched the faces of her friends, silently pleading with them to do as she asked.

Hoggle shuffled to tuck himself slightly behind one of Ludo's great arms, his cowardly instincts beginning to kick in. "We can't, Sarah. I'm sorry. The Labyrinth bought ya 'ere, it sent the goblins ta bring ya back, an' now you're 'ere it won't let 'em return ya 'gain."

"Sawah stay?" Ludo added in, hope and excitement filling his voice.

"No! No, Sarah won't stay! Look, I'm sorry, but this is Jareth's mess, not mine. I have a life back home, and my family. I belong there, not here. Now send me back!" Sarah demanded, anger and panic beginning to boil over at the seemingly hopeless situation.

The three before her remained silent for a long moment before Sir Didymus found his voice once again, though unlike his usual shrill pitch, the words he spoke were much quieter and softer now. "My Lady, we cannot. T'is beyond our ability to doth so."

"Fine! If you won't help me, I'll find my own way home. After all, I escaped this place once, I can do it again." The bitterness lacing her words stung her three friends, causing them to flinch. Sarah stormed past them and through the crowd of goblins, hastily making her way towards the corridor that would lead her out into the goblin city.

The three quickly recovered with her retreat out into the Labyrinth, Hoggle and Sir Didymus racing after her as fast as they could, Ludo lumbering behind, followed by the goblin hordes. "My Lady, wait for us, please!" Didymus called after her swiftly retreating form.

Sarah let her feet carry her through the twisting corridor, relieved when she stumbled upon bright light beaming through the opening before her. Picking up her pace, Sarah burst through the great doors out into the goblin city, determined to find a way home through the great Labyrinth that stretched endlessly outward into the distance beyond the city walls. However, it wasn't the breath-taking sight of the maze that captured her attention, but rather the crumbling goblin city that confronted her. She stood in shock to see such a sight, horror passing over her features. It looked just as it had after her skirmish with the goblin army towards the end of her run, though where she expected it to have been long rebuilt by now, it was clear no attempt to do so had been made.

The great clamour approaching from behind her alerted her to the arrival of her pursuers, and quickly wiped at eyes that were filling with tears at such a saddening sight.

"Sarah?" Hoggle's coarse voice apprehensively called to her from behind.

Sarah remained silent however, glued to the spot, though she could feel her friends drawing nearer to her and the many pairs of goblin eyes boring into her back.

Seeing the goblin city in such a state filled her with dread at what condition the Labyrinth may fall into without a ruler. Jareth had clearly been neglecting his duties since her visit to his world, and she found herself worrying what troubles may have befallen him to cause him to do so. And then there was his recent disappearance. Perhaps the two were somehow linked? Regardless, it was clear that the Labyrinth needed help, and it seemed that the job of being that someone fell to her. It wasn't like her career as an actress was going anywhere anyways, and she _had_ always felt out of place Aboveground. Besides, the last thing she wanted to be was like her mother. She'd abandoned Sarah and her father when Sarah was only a young child to pursue a career in acting, and Sarah had had only minimal contact with her mother since then. Sarah now found herself in a similar situation, where the Labyrinth and her friends desperately needed her help, and Sarah found she couldn't just abandon them in their time of need. Besides, it surely wouldn't take too long before they managed to find Jareth, restore him to his throne and Sarah could return home to her family.

Sarah took a deep inhale of breath to steady her nerves, nodded her head once to steel her resolve and turned to her friends. "Alright, how can I help?"

* * *

Jareth scowled as he emptied his fridge of the last remaining contents it held. He had awoken sprawled in the middle of the tiny apartment he now stood in just over a month ago, with no memory of whom or where he was. He couldn't fathom what had been the cause for his loss of memory either, finding no injuries to his head or any other body part for that matter upon inspection. Making a mental note to go food shopping after finishing his snack, he quickly whipped up a simple sandwich for lunch. He had soon established that he was in New York upon waking, though who he was still remained a mystery to him. After searching his apartment he had managed to find no contacts for any friends or family, and could find no mobile phone anywhere. After a month with no contact no one had come looking for him either, which only made him wonder more about who he was and why no one seemed to be missing him.

Money had been something of a problem at first; having woken with no memory meaning he was incapable of using his credit cards due to being unable to remember the pin numbers. This had resulted in his having to contact his card providers to cancel them all and request new ones, much to his chagrin. Luckily Jareth appeared to own the apartment he lived in, as no one had bothered him about owing rent so far. Yet even so, there were still bills to pay, and as far as he was aware, Jareth currently had no job, so money was limited.

Since waking, Jareth had found life over the past month extremely mundane, and had a strong sense that something was missing. As though there was somewhere important that he needed to be or something he should be doing, but he couldn't grasp just what. Shrugging it off as merely a subconscious response to his lack of memory, he tried not to pay it much thought. After all, even if there were somewhere else he needed to be, it wasn't like he could remember where it was, so there was little point in worrying over it. Wasting no time in devouring the sandwich he'd made to appease his grumbling stomach, Jareth snatched his leather jacket up from its hook by the door and exited his apartment, locking it behind him and shoving his keys deep into his jean pocket as he set off. He had found his wardrobe to consist mostly of dark jeans that clung tightly to his legs, shirts, form fitting t-shirts, boots, and a few tailored suits. As for his appearance, he obviously cared to maintain it. His hair was cut short and pale blonde in colour, falling in messy curls around the top of his head. Pale skin and a face that was all angles combined gave him the appearance of a marble Greek statue. The most unusual thing about him, however, were his eyes. Mismatched as they were, one remained permanently dilated, making the pale blue pools appear different in colour. He often found the eyes of women lingered on him when he passed down the street, and whilst he didn't mind such attention, he didn't find himself drawn to any of them in return.

Gracefully navigating his way through the crowded streets, Jareth soon turned into a supermarket he'd found fairly nearby to his apartment. Being unfamiliar with the streets of New York, he was unwilling to wander too far still for fear of becoming lost, but had spent his first couple of weeks after waking familiarising himself with the local area. Grabbing a basket on his way through the automatic doors, he proceeded to maneuver through the aisles within the supermarket, dropping various items into his basket as he went.

With a basket that was practically overflowing by the time he was done, Jareth eventually made his way towards the tills to pay for the items spilling out of their plastic container. The shop was fairly quiet at present, and so he was soon at the front of the queue to pay. Unloading the items, he set about packing them carefully into bags as the till attendant swiped them through. Once all the items were neatly loaded, he tugged his wallet from his back pocket and jammed his card into the machine.

"Sorry buddy, your card was rejected." The till attendant informed him, a look of extreme boredom plastered across his face.

"Hmm, try it again." Jareth commanded of the man, who did as he asked.

The man shook his head when the same outcome was reached. "Nope, rejected again. Sorry man."

Huffing, Jareth replaced the card in the machine with another, placing the first back in his wallet. "There, try that one."

Satisfied when the machine beeped to state that his card had been accepted, once the transaction was complete he returned his card to his wallet and his wallet to his back pocket in turn, lifting up the bags from the counter-top and heading towards the shop exit.

Lost to his thoughts, worrying over the realisation that he was extremely low on money with no current way of earning any more, Jareth failed to notice the young women entering the shop just as he exited. When they collided, Jareth barely managed to keep a hold of his bags, the women less fortunate as the flyers she was carrying flew into the air and she toppled backwards to the ground.

"No, no, no, no, no..." The small woman quickly recovered, scrambling around to recover the bits of paper that were now being shuffled across the pavement in the light breeze.

Jareth hastily placed his carrier bags on the ground, kneeling to assist her. Gathering the flyers closest to him, between the two of them they had all soon been retrieved. Jareth shuffled his into a neat pile, standing to face the woman. She was a petite, blonde woman with round blue eyes and thin, red lips. Hair pulled back into a messy bun and face decorated with a light coating of makeup, she made quite a pretty picture. However, it was the face that stared up at him from the flyers as he extended his arm to return them that truly caught his attention. Large, dazzling green eyes burned into his skull as he gazed into them through the paper he held, the fleeting image of a girl stood in a field acting out the story of the book she gripped in her hands flying through his head, disappearing as quickly as it came.

Momentarily disoriented, Jareth barely registered the "Thank you" the woman before him directed his way. It took him a moment to get a grip on his senses once again, but when he did he was confronted with an extended hand and a grateful smile.

Jareth released the hold he still had on the flyers, firmly shaking the woman's offered hand. "The woman on the flyer, who is she?" He inquired, glancing at her face once again, though this time no images accompanied his doing so.

The smile from the woman's face immediately fell, and her own eyes followed Jareth's to rest upon the printed image before her. "Her name's Sarah, she's been missing for about a week now. Just didn't show up for her shift at work one day, which isn't like her at all. No one's seen or heard from her and I haven't been able to find her anywhere."

"Sarah..." Jareth rolled the name off his tongue, enjoying the way it sounded.

"Yeah. Anyway, thank you for your help, Mr...? I'm Lucy by the way." The smile had returned to her face now, and her eyes to Jareth.

At Lucy's question, a puzzled look crossed Jareth's face. This was the first real exchange he'd had with anyone since waking that wasn't the angry blare of a horn and a few choice words directed his way when crossing a busy street, and so up to now he hadn't had to worry about introducing himself to anyone.

"What's the matter, don't know your own name?" Lucy joked, pulling him from his thoughts.

"Actually, no." At her accompanying look of inquiry to his statement, Jareth proceeded to inform Lucy of how he'd awoken with no memory, could find no contacts for friends or family and hadn't appeared to have been in any sort of accident, as well as his current predicament of needing a job, and quick. It was all very much a mystery. Lucy listened to his tale with rapt attention, fascinated by this strange, beautiful man and his story. Once he finished, an idea struck her.

"Well, you can't go walking around New York forever without a name. What about..." Lucy pondered over a few to herself for a short moment, studying him closely as she did. "David? You look like you could be a David."

Jareth wrinkled his nose at the suggestion, shaking his head in disapproval.

"Ok then, how about..." Narrowing her eyes, Lucy squared her jaw in thought. "Oh, I know! Garrett."

Mulling the name over in his head, he eventually decided he rather liked it, lips twisting into an impish grin. "Yes, I think that will do just fine. Garrett it is. Pleasure to meet you Lucy."

"You too. Anyway, I need to be heading off now, I've still got a lot of these to hang." She motioned to the stack of flyers in her hands. "But listen, you seem like a nice guy and you said you needed a job. Well, if Sarah isn't found soon there will be a spot opening up at the bar we both work. If you give me your number, I could give you a call and let you know?"

Jareth was now extremely grateful he had thought to buy himself a new phone after being unable to find one when he'd awoken, reciting his number for Lucy who punched it into a new contact on her own phone.

"Great, I'll talk to you soon then Garrett!" With a smile she slid past him into the supermarket to inquire about hanging a couple of the missing flyers on the shop windows.

Collecting his shopping bags from where they still sat on the ground at his feet, Jareth was quite pleased with the turn the day had just taken as he set off back towards his apartment.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **This chapter took a little bit longer to write than I hoped it would, but here it is!**

 **I'm hoping that I can get at least one more chapter written before I go back to Uni next week and have to focus on getting all my essays and shizzle done.**

 **Just so you all have a reference, I'm using the 1982 David Bowie/Helmut Newton photoshoot as the basis for Jareth's appearance in the human world.**

 **Also, I have finally discovered that the gorgeous cover image I am using for this story was made by sarahbethking on DeviantArt and you should all go have a look at it on there in its full sized glory!**

 **As always, thank you for reading and please leave a review.**

 **-Ella.**


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